


Everless

by ghxstlvke



Series: Sherwood Folklore [1]
Category: Once Upon A Time - Fandom
Genre: Bi, F/M, Gen, LGBT, Non binary mc, OC, OUAT - Freeform, Once Upon A Time, Once Upon A Time OCs, Robin Hood - Freeform, once - Freeform, roland - Freeform, roland the first - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghxstlvke/pseuds/ghxstlvke
Summary: book I in the Sherwood Folklore trilogy✥V Castellan, a 19 year old living in Storybrooke, Maine, doesn't understand. Doesn't understand what? Why their parents abandoned them. They thought they got over it years ago but when they find a photo of them as a baby with a woman and man they don't recognize at the Storybrooke library between the pages of a copy of Robin Hood..they can't help but investigate their past.Artemis of Daygon, a 23 year old living in Sherwood Forest, just wants to get out. Out of what? Her royal duties. She doesn't suit the lavish life of luxury and can't help but wish for a day where she can escape into the depths of the forest. One day, her wish comes true when she gets caught in the midst of Robin Hood and his merry men..and she can't help but feel a certain attraction to a certain one.✥a Once Upon A Time ff
Relationships: OC/OC, Robin/Marian, Roland/Artemis
Series: Sherwood Folklore [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091072
Kudos: 1





	1. i. - the beginning

v.c.

I was tasked with opening up the library again. Honestly, I wouldn't have a problem with it if it weren't for the fact that Mr. Gold, the owner, was asking me on the morning of my first day back at college.

When he asked me to yesterday as I was leaving when my shift ended, I didn't complain but I could tell he definitely noticed my sour expression, mumbling something about how I'm lucky to still have this job.

Believe me, this wasn't my first choice either, pal.

I originally wanted to work as a trainee at the police station but I was deemed "too fragile" by Sergeant Smartass, aka Sheriff Graham Hunbert, who always insisted looking out for me ever since I was a kid. I hated that. He knew I hated being watched over.

Instead, he had put in a good word to Mr. Gold for a job somewhere. He insisted the pawn shop but instead, I got stuck at the clock tower library. 

Don't get me wrong, I was grateful for getting a job in the first place..but Mr. Gold wasn't my first thought of an a-plus boss. He liked to work me long and hard hours despite my school schedule. At this point, I was never going to get my associates degree. 

Today was the first day for the spring semester, I was tired and didn't even want to be at the library and was even written off to not even be here today..but, of course, Gold had to be the way he is. 

The night before, I found myself giddy with the idea of tomorrow was bringing so much that I couldn't even sleep. I made myself a cup of tea while my roommate, Marina, insisted I try reality shifting. She claimed it would help me fall asleep faster.

"This sounds dumb," I stated as I took out an empty notebook I was supposed to use for notes in reading class the next day,"What if it doesn't even work?"

Marina sat on her twin size bed across the room from mine, her bright teal hair looking even more neon when she was excited about me doing something new,"It works for me! I made an alternate reality where I'm a pop star and sell out arenas every night.."

She continued to ramble as I rolled my eyes, looking down at the paper before glancing between it and the pen in my hand. I noticed my hand shaking as I thought to myself...Where did I want to go?

It took me a few minutes to think but I eventually thought of something, writing my rules and ideas down like the English major I was, before closing it and laying it on my nightstand. I put my hands on my chest as I tried out the Julia method.

I am, I am, I am, I am..

I thought it multiple times before I eventually started feeling the signs. I didn't get alarmed though, it would stop working if I did, instead I started counting.

One, two, three, four...

It took me a few minutes to reach one hundred before I thought of my affirmations. 

My name is V Castellan, I am nineteen years old, and I am shifting to a place where I am wanted.

And that's when I felt my body lurch into sleep and everything went pitch black.

*

Needless to say, it didn't work. 

I woke up this morning to an alarm blasting some K-pop song that Marina picked out, this time it was a girl group that she had currently been obsessing over. 

I sat up, watching Marina flop over in a groan, her blue haired spiked up in a million different directions due to cowlick, as she slammed the snooze button on her phone and nuzzled back up to her five blankets and two body pillows as of nothing happened. 

I sighed as I laid back with a slump and picked up my phone on my nightstand, seeing the time at a crazy six fifteen in the morning. My alarm was still fifteen minutes until it actually went off so I decided to get up.

I grabbed my wired glasses off the nightstand before I made my way to the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror. My pixie cut, dirty blonde hair was in its natural setting of "uncontrollable wavy" as I grabbed a hair straightener out of the cabinet under the sink. 

My face was blotchy at the moment but the freckles that peppered my face made it blend in, grateful about them for once.

Suddenly, I noticed something was off. I squinted as I stared at my face like I was trying to find a blackhead even though I barely even got them. That's when I realized. My septum piercing was gone. Well, flipped up inside my nose.

I flipped it down before it nearly flew out of my nose. One of the balls on the end was missing.

I groaned as I took it out and placed it on the bathroom counter before looking on the tiles, finding nothing. I eventually went into the bedroom where I searched on the hardwood, if we had carpet, I would've given up a long time ago.

"Mari," I barked. She didn't even stir.

"MARI!" I yelped. She sat up straight.

She blinked a few times, grabbing a pillow off her bed,"Where's the fire?"

"Chill out, I lost a piercing ball again."

She looked down at me on the floor and rolled her eyes,"You should be more careful about those."

"You think I mean to lose them on purpose? Get down here and help me," I looked under my bed and Marina looked in the drawers of her nightstand so she wouldn't get off the bed.

"I said "down here"."

"And my mind says "mm, warm bed"."

I rolled my eyes so hard that I'm surprised they didn't roll back into my skull before I saw a tiny flash of silver on the floor next to the edge of my bed,"Never mind, I found it."

I grabbed it and placed it on top of my nightstand, realizing that I might as well get dressed while I was in here.

I put on a long sleeved black shirt, layering a black and white striped polo over it. I put long slacks on and pulled on some black Vans. Very emo-chic, if I do say so myself.

I made my way to the bathroom as I rinsed my septum ring before putting it back in its spot in my nose. I made a mental note to flip it back up my nose when I got to the library, knowing how weird and old fashioned Gold was about piercings.

I brushed my teeth as I thought of how the day would go, being nearly narcotic at the idea of even leaving the apartment.

I straightened my hair, styling it in a way that kept the slight curls at a very bare minimum. I sprayed it with hairspray before deciding to do some makeup. I put some coverup on the blotchy areas and put some highlighter on.

Highlight in the inner corner of the eye was enough eyeshadow for me any day.

I didn't even bother with mascara as I left the bathroom after cleaning everything up, going through the bedroom and into the kitchen where I grabbed my black satchel that Graham gave me on my eighteenth birthday.

I remember when he gave it to me, I was on my way to work when he stopped me on the way there. He handed me a box and told me to wait until I got to the clock tower to open it. I did and I almost cried.

Inside, on the flap that it closed with, it had an inscription with the words...

For those days when you want to explore but don't have the motivation to try..  
Read this, take this with you, and know that you'll always have someone in your corner.  
\- G.Hunbert 

Now, it was my go to favorite thing in this world and if anything happened to it, I would cry.

I made sure my wallet was in it as I took it out and counted the cash I had inside for when I was done opening the library and could run to Granny's for some breakfast before class started. My stomach rolled at the idea.

I checked the time on my phone and saw that I had ten minutes to get to the clock tower. Good thing it was only a seven minute walk.

I announced to Marina I was leaving, receiving a sleepy "bring me something from Granny's", before I opened the door that lead to the hallway outside of our apartment.

I took in a deep breath as I walked down two flights of stairs before finding my way to the outside door, I pushed it open and bared myself for a tough day.

Here goes nothing.

~*~*~*~

a.d.

As if anything couldn't get worse, I was given the news that I was betrothed. To whom? No idea, all I knew was that he lived in a kingdom not too far from our own and that he had money.

I hated being a marchioness of the crown, knowing I had royal duties that no one could give a horse's ass over..but, I guess that's what I get for not asking to be born.

When I asked my father whom the man I was to be married to was, he got nervous and said he was a famous being that everyone knew of from the end of the Enchanted Forest. 

It didn't take long to find out from Father's assistant that he had no idea who he even was and that he only got the offer the night before and accepted without looking into the man's character.

Being a woman was so hard.

Now, here I was, in my chambers as I packed my things to a new land where I was either marrying a young, dashing viscount from a separate pure bloodline or an old, troll lookalike who wanted to have beautiful babies and grabbed the closest opportunity he could. 

I wish I could say that I could forgive my father for accepting this but it was simply unthinkable, selling your daughter off to a complete stranger? Things of nightmares for schoolchildren yet normal for royalty.

I wanted to escape but knew that I could be executed for it. Or worse, thrown to the dogs. The real world was a scarier place than I cared to imagine about but maybe it was a good thing and a good place.

I was folding my favorite ivory sundress that I wore on Sundays after church, the one that I was positive I was most likely going to be married in. I loved the lacy patterns along the sweetheart neckline and the bits of tule that slashed along the bust and created the cap sleeves.

I hated the thought of this dress becoming a hellish nightmare memory.

I hadn't realized my eyes had been welling with tears until I heard a faint tapping on my chamber door,"Who is it?"

I wiped a tear off my right cheekbone as I heard a mousy voice from behind,"Rowena, your majesty."

Rowena was my personal handmaiden that I've known since we were children, she was a small, timid girl who was almost four years younger than me but I managed to get closer to her than I liked to admit.

"Come on in, Miss Rowena," I made my voice clear and authoritative, showing that I wouldn't break at the thought of me leaving with an unseeable future just a few steps away.

The door began to crack open and I continued to stare down at the dress as I heard Rowena's footsteps enter,"Your majesty, your carriage is about ready to go. Are you almost packed?"

Her voice was just a few seconds from breaking and I felt mine crack as I said,"Unless they pry me from this room, I'm not ready."

Rowena let out a slight giggle, mournful yet playful,"I think they're already preparing a knight squad, miss."

I let a wild smirk shine on my lips as I glanced over at the sword tucked in the corner of my room, hidden between a chest of drawers and reading chair. 

Rowena saw where my gaze went and her eyes widened,"Artemis," my smirk went away,"you're not seriously thinking of fighting them, are you?"

"And if I was?" I didn't mean to sound snappy or rudely but it was clear that I wanted out of the situation I was saddled with without my own permission,"Wouldn't it be grand if I could just leave without consequences? Live on my own in a village where no one would recognize me?"

"But everyone would recognize you."

"Shush, Rowena."

She sighed deeply before I fell backward and slumped onto my bed, she sat next to me,"It can't be that bad. What if he is, indeed, royalty?"

"Then it'll be my luck that he would be related to Queen Regina," my mouth had a sour taste as I said the words. Everyone knew that I had a distaste for her, her ways of ruling were cruel and unusual. 

Rowena only sighed once more,"Even if he isn't royalty, you'd be getting the simple life you've been begging for."

"A simple life would consist of me falling for my one true love in a village where we'd have babies and love each other 'til eternity without a care in the world...this situation isn't simple in the slightest," I found myself rambling as tears began to pepper my eyes,"Now, I'll never get my happy ending."

Rowena began to brush my long, chocolate brown hair with her fingers,"If I know anything, your grace...you're the one who deserves a happy ending the most in the world. Who knows? Maybe a prince in shining armor will come and save you?"

I let out a quiet chuckle, amused by the idea yet hopeful. Knowing it would never come true but a girl could still dream.

"Oh, it's this dress," Rowena picks up the freshly folded sundress,"Were you simply packing it away?"

"What else am I supposed to do with it?" I sulk.

Rowena stands up and holds it out in front of her, examining it before looking at my vanity where multiple hairpins and beauty items were laid miscellaneously.

"I think you should wear it today, knock your future betrothed off his feet."

I sat up, intrigued but terrified as the minutes drew closer. But, if I agreed to this, I would have awhile longer until I was ready to leave.

"Ready" as in physically..not mentally.

I nodded in agreement. Rowena squealed with delight. She helped me get into the dress before making me sit on a stool where she started doing things to my hair. Pinning it up and styling it. She used few beauty products but it was enough to make any man in the kingdom swoon.

When she was finished, she swung me around so I could see myself in the vanity as I felt as if I was looking at a completely different person.

The dress was a perfect fit as it hugged the right curves in all the nicest places, my hair was down and slightly curled while two buns on either side on top held up the thick top part that I knew would cause me to sweat as soon as I went into the humidity of the outdoors.

I was a perfect picture of serene calmness on the outside..but, on the inside, I was screaming internally where rain poured and mixed with my tears that streamed down my face.

That's when we heard a knock on the door,"Your highness, it's time to go."


	2. ii. - the hope

v.c.

I got to the clock tower at exactly seven, unhappy and almost angry to see that Mr. Gold hadn't arrived yet. Unhappy because I woke up early to get here but not angry enough to throw a fit over it.

It was cold outside, the wind whipping at my clothes with a fierceness. I wished I had brought a jacket as I looked at the sky and the forming storm clouds that were swirling overhead.

Lovely, it's going to be raining or snowing by the time I get to campus..

I took my massive set of keys, it was actually a bunch of keychains with only three keys on a single jumble of a keychain, out of my satchel. I found the bronze key that fit the library's lock before opening it, stumbling inside the building and its warmth. 

Well, what I thought would be warmth. 

When I got into the building and shut the door, I forgot that Gold turned the air conditioning off the night before when I was about to leave, making the entire building as freezing as it was outside.

I groaned as I rushed to the air conditioning unit and turning it on, making the entire tower rumble with the starting machine. I walked towards the wall to the left of the front door and flicked the farthest right light switch up from a multitude on the panel, the entire space around me illuminating with fluorescent lights.

I turned the sign on the front door to where it said "open" before I turned around and walked over to the counter where the computer was begging to be turned on.

I went behind the counter and turned it on, booting the book renting system up and I decided to go check the return box in the back. I knew that it would be full since a bunch of people decided to rent books exactly two weeks ago when they thought a snow storm would keep them in like every winter they thought there would be one.

I wonder how well that idea went as I opened the door that lead to where the books went when you pushed them down the chute from outside. Low and behold, there was at least fifty-something books ranging from non-fiction to children's to smutty trash. 

I began gathering them in my arms, only getting a few hardback books as I carried them to the front, plopping them on the counter. I did this a few times, beginning to sweat from the air conditioning blasting heat in the book return room like I've never felt before.

I was eventually on my last stack as I huffed, bringing a bunch of thin paperbacks and a single leather bound book towards the counter but my foot caught on the carpet beneath me and the adrenaline filling me didn't help as my body lurched forward.

I landed face first into the carpet, my cheek colliding with the rough texture and I already know it gave me carpet burn before I can even feel it. My glasses flew off my face and I was blinded, my body landed on the books and some were jagging and stabbing me while I knew I was crushing and creasing the others. 

I winced, realizing my right elbow was sore because I tried to put all my weight on it when I fell, before pulling myself up. I reached around for my glasses, squinting as if that would help like I wasn't blind like a bat already.

I eventually found them and put them on my face, adjusting to the scene surrounding me of a couple books multiple feet away from me in various directions while there were most of them under me and crushed. I felt my heart crush too.

Getting on my knees, I picked them up, stacking them on the ground next to me. I counted them and realized I was missing one. I strained my brain as I tried to figure out which one it was before it felt like a smack in the face. 

The dark brown leather bound book was gone.

I looked around on my hands and knees, not finding it anywhere under tables or chairs, before standing up and looking to see if it somehow fell on top of a surface anywhere. 

I started freaking out but then I turned to see it sitting perfectly crisp and clean on the counter where the computer was, making my mouth gape open. But, I just blinked a few times before walking over to it,"How did you get over here?"

I picked it up and looked at the cover, noticing a gorgeous tree on the cover, an arc hovered above and around it with Celtic knots surrounding the design. Flower patterns dotted the edges of the cover, a lily was in the center of the arc's main curve. I looked at the spine to figure out what the gorgeous book it was.

The Many Adventures of Robin Hood.

I guess the tree and greenery made sense now. 

I sighed before I placed it back onto the counter and turned around to pick up the rest of the books on the ground. I went around the counter to stack all of them by category, ready to flip through them all to find any bookmarks or paper inside the pages.

If we found anything, we had to throw the item inside away. It was protocol and kept people from complaining that we didn't take care of the books. I wondered how they'd feel reading the shredded ones I just demolished with my body accidentally.

I started sifting through them one by one, not finding anything interesting besides bookmarks and scrap paper with to do lists on them. I always wanted to find a juicy love letter or rivalry of some sort just to get the day going quicker.

But, like my luck every day, it didn't end up happening.

I eventually reached the copy of Robin Hood and scattered through the pages, they felt like butter as my fingers glided across the edges of the paper. That's when I saw something.

I didn't even react as I flipped back a couple pages from where I stopped to see a Polaroid. I furrowed my eyebrows since it was a rare occurrence to find anything other than the occasional "pick Johnny and Linda up from school". 

I plucked it from the pages and noticed it was of a family. A woman, a man, and a child in a hospital bed. 

The woman was holding the child in her arms in a pink blanket, her hair was up in a messy bun with strands sticking to her forehead from sweat that appeared to be dripping off her forehead due to what looked like hours of hard labor.

The man was joyfully crying, his tousled hair was swept in random waves that made him look like he hadn't slept a wink while in bed. Tears streamed down his face as his hand cradled the baby's head.

And then there was the child. A beautiful, small being that couldn't have been more than a few minutes old. Platinum blonde peach fuzz was atop their head and, judging from the pink fuzzy blanket, it was a girl.

I felt warm gazing at this photo, realizing how amazing it must feel to be part of a family. I wished that child the best, hoping they got whatever they were looking for in life.

Then I got curious, wondering if maybe this photo was taken years before. It was a Polaroid, for God's sake. No one used those anymore.

I flipped the image over, looking at the corners before I saw a very faint date drawn on the bottom right corner with a sharpie marker.

10/02/1992

My breath caught in my throat, that was my birthday. I continued looking for faded letters, a sign that it wasn't what I thought it was.

That's when the front door opened with an almost slam and I jumped up at the commotion, looking up to see Mr. Gold in his fiendish glory. His cane clacked on the concrete loudly outside so I should've heard him coming from a mile away.

"Good morning, Mr. Gold," I put the photo in my left pants pocket swiftly.

"V," he glanced between the stacks of books and the door to the book return room,"you didn't close the return room door."

"Oh, sorry.." I scrambled to the door and felt a strong wave of heat emit from it before closing it,"I was distracted I guess."

"I thought you were only opening today, not working at all..unless you wish to work your full shift?" He seemed to find it amusing, his thin lips twisting into a creepy smirk.

I blinked, realizing it was quite dumb since I hadn't even clocked in at all,"I still have my first day of class, sir."

"Yes, I'm aware. You should get going before you miss it," he moved away from the doorway and I turned to grab my satchel before walking around from behind the counter and reaching the door.

I turned and gave him a small wave,"See you tomorrow, Mr. Gold."

"Yes, yes, see you then, dearie," he mumbled as he flipped through the books for remnants I could've missed, noticing the crumpled covers and pages of some with a furrowed eyebrow and I left before he asked questions. 

I made my way towards the college, walking quicker than normal considering I had been there for fifteen minutes and class started at eight.

I stuck my hand in my pocket, pulling out the photo and examining it closely. Looking again for any sort of words or anything that indicates who the people in the photo were.

Eventually, I gave up as I stuffed it in a pocket of my satchel with an upset grunt. 

If only I focused on reality instead of getting my hopes up..

~*~*~*~

a.d.

I put one foot in the carriage and I instantly regretted every decision in my life that lead me to this moment.

I sat down on the seat inside, realizing I was the only one who would be inside the carriage during our journey when the guard closed the door behind me.

I wanted to channel and manifest all the strength of every goddess in this universe and the next to get me out of here. I only wished I could and left myself to dream about what I wish my reality could be.

The carriage lurched forward and I felt my body lean as it went in time with the gravity of the ground beneath. I could smell the evergreen trees outside wafting through the crack of the hinges on the door.

I felt anxiety become rampant in my body as my palms became sweaty and my mouth watered profusely. I didn't want to be here, my brain starting to finally internalize that I was leaving for good.

That's when I noticed which way we were heading and I felt my entire body go into alarm. I had no idea where we were headed and the path ahead of us seemed gnarly and dark. 

I opened the carriage door slightly and yelled out to the guard and the driver,"Where are you taking me? What is the path we are set on currently?"

The driver seemed unbothered by my deathly fear as he answered nonchalantly,"We are headin' to a village outside of Sherwood Forest, the only way to get there is through the darkest part of the forest itself."

My hair began to stand up on the back of my neck,"But isn't it riddled with monsters and creature that could kill us?"

"I hate to tell you this, your grace, but I travel through this part of the forest almost weekly. I haven't seen nothin' of the sort so you don't be needin' to worry a single royal, pretty hair on your head," he sounded confident in his skills but by the way his hair was graying and swooping over his eyes every time we hit a bump, which was very often, I knew I was doomed.

I closed the carriage door and slumped back in my seat, closing my eyes as a sick feeling went over me. 

I have a bad feeling about this.

*

We had been riding for hours, waiting until the sun finally set to take a break for the horses to eat and get a drink. 

I was told not to leave the carriage, knowing that they didn't trust me or how they were eager to not let me leave easily just goes to show you what kind of money offer my father got in exchange for my life.

Instead, I stared at the ceiling of my prison. I looked at the rings of the wood that showed that the wood used for this carriage was older than me by a hundred years. A beautiful, strange oddity to know how old trees were but I had only learned from the worst.

My father tried to teach me many things about nature that I figured he thought wouldn't matter in the future. Counting tree rings, what types of berries and fruit to eat and not to eat in the forest, how to tame a rabid animal like a rabbit or squirrel. Come to think of it, watching my father tame a squirrel that foamed at the mouth from rabies was quite funny and peek entertainment.

Now, I wished that squirrel had bitten him.

I felt my eyes close as I listened to the cicadas of the outdoors chirp in the summer breeze, it was a wonderful sound to my ears that I was happy that it was the soundtrack to which I'd to give my life away to.

But, even as I heard their calming cries, something felt wrong. I sat up straight and turned to the carriage door, seeing the guard standing next to it so I wouldn't leave. I couldn't see anything but I could feel something wasn't right.

I knew we had to leave immediately.

I began to knock on the door to get the guard's attention but he ignored it. I started pounding on it, he continued to ignore it with a silver iron will. 

I finally decided to go with the best option possible. I screamed.

Loudly.

The sound was shrill and enough to shatter glass from two miles away. The guard covered his ears before he whipped around and swung the door open with so much force that I almost got swept away by the wind it produced.

"What the hell do you want?!" He sounded angry. Good, I liked that I did that.

"Where is the driver?"

"He's feeding the horses," he goes to shut the door but I inhaled a giant breath and he opened it again.

"I want him to come back. Now."

"He has to feed the horses or else they'll get weak and die. You don't want that, do you?" He sounded like he had defeated me but I just crossed my arms.

"I'm tired and wish to sleep in a regular bed. I want to get to my betrothed's home before the daylight breaks the horizon," I gave him a look of fire and ice working together to break anything in its path,"I am your superior and you will do as I say."

He seemed confused, shocked, and frightened by my statement but he didn't object as he grumbled something about,"Bratty royal..", put a lock on the carriage door, and made his way to find the driver.

I actually decided to stay and not try to break the lock, knowing that if my gut was telling me something was wrong..something was definitely wrong.

I crossed my ankles and tapped my right foot on the ground impatiently, waiting for the guard to come back with the driver so we could get out of there quickly.

The feeling in my stomach grew bigger and larger a single continued to sit like a sick duck before I couldn't handle it any more. 

I started taking in a deep breath, opening my mouth to prepare to scream....when a sword pierced the top of the carriage and I screamed. But, this time, in terror.


End file.
